Fatty acid esters are important materials as raw materials for producing higher alcohols and oil and fat chemical products such as ester sulfonates and alkanolamides. These fatty acid esters are generally obtained by a reaction between a triglyceride and a lower alcohol or a reaction between a fatty acid and a lower alcohol. Various solid catalysts have been developed for esterification reactions between fatty acids and lower alcohols. Examples of the solid catalyst include such as cation exchange resins, single or complex metal oxides, stabilized acids and synthesized zeolite. There is the method described in JP-A 3-115249 as an example in which such a solid acid catalyst is applied to the production of a fatty acid ester.
Further, the improvement and development of these solid catalysts are still ongoing. For example, JP-A 2002-346392 discloses a solid acid catalyst made of an improved cation exchange resin.